Many packaged microelectronic devices have a substrate, a microelectronic die attached to the substrate, and a protective covering encasing the die. The protective covering is generally a plastic or ceramic compound that can be molded to form a casing over the die. The microelectronic die can be a memory device, a microprocessor, or another type of microelectronic assembly having integrated circuitry. Several types of packaged devices also include bond pads on the substrate that are coupled to the integrated circuitry of the die. The bond pads may alternatively be coupled to pins or other types of terminals that are exposed on the exterior of the microelectronic device for connecting the die to buses, circuits and/or other microelectronic assemblies.
A significant limiting factor for manufacturing packaged microelectronic devices is encapsulating the die with the protective covering. The dies are sensitive components that should be protected from physical contact and environmental conditions to avoid damaging the die. The protective casing encapsulating the die, therefore, should seal the die from the environmental factors (e.g., moisture) and shield the die from electrical and mechanical shocks.
One conventional technique for encapsulating the die is known as “transfer-molding,” which involves placing the die and at least a portion of the substrate in a cavity of a mold and then injecting a thermosetting material into the cavity. The thermosetting material flows over the die on one side of the substrate until it fills the cavity, and then the thermosetting material is cured so that it hardens into a suitable protective casing for protecting the die. The protective casing should not have any voids over the die because contaminants from the molding process or environmental factors could damage the die. The thermosetting material, moreover, should not cover a ball-pad array on the substrate or damage any electrical connections between the die and the substrate. Therefore, it is important to control the flow of the thermosetting material in the cavity to avoid (a) producing voids in the protective casing over the die, (b) covering portions of the substrate with the thermosetting material that are not to be covered with the protective covering, and (c) displacing or otherwise damaging any wiring or solder joints between the die and the substrate.
One drawback of transfer-molding is that it is difficult to avoid producing voids in the thermosetting material. In one particular transfer-molding technique, a first protective casing is formed over the die on a first surface of the substrate, and a second protective casing is formed over contacts on the die and wire-bond connections on a second surface of the substrate. The first casing is formed from a first flow of the thermosetting compound, and the second casing is formed from a second flow of the thermosetting compound. This transfer-molding technique may result in voids along either the first or second surface of the substrate because the first and second flows may counter one another as they flow through the mold. Other transfer-molding techniques may also produce voids in the protective casing over the die because the flow of the thermosetting material in the mold may produce a first flow section that moves in a direction counter to a second flow section. Therefore, it would be desirable to eliminate voids in the protective casing.